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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24267301">Over Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysteriousMik/pseuds/MysteriousMik'>MysteriousMik</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Over Time [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Overwatch (Video Game), Team Fortress 2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Enemies to Friends, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Gay, Homosexuality, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Lesbian Character, M/M, Other, Time Travel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:20:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,717</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24267301</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysteriousMik/pseuds/MysteriousMik</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In 2074, Overwatch may have been recalled but the government and Talon still have a close eye on them. When Winston tries to find a permanent solution to Tracer's chronal disassociation, he needs to venture to places outside of peering eye's view. His research brings him to New Mexico where he finds a long abandoned laboratory that may have the technology he needs to find his answer. The technology is a bit outdated sure, 1972 was 102 years ago, but the notes left by a man who signed them as "Engineer" prove that some minds do work ahead of their own time. Winston wishes he could have been able to thank this man for the help he provided. However, neither of them realize effect they have on each other until they meet... Over Time...<br/>----------</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Emily/Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Heavy/Medic (Team Fortress 2), Miss Pauling/Scout (Team Fortress 2)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Over Time [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1751722</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Tags will be updated as more chapters release. There are implied or mentioned relationships but nothing is confirmed other than already canon ones (ex. Tracer/Emily) Really this fic is an excuse for me to write about how these characters would interact</p>
<p>Similar concept to my UT crossover. I just needed to stop that one for a bit for personal reasons eeehh... hope you enjoy this for now. I'm writing the 2nd chapter immediately after the first but I needed to see if I still remembered the password for this account OOPS</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>2074 - Somewhere in New Mexico</p><p>Winston had been working on this project for some time now ever since the battle between his team and Doomfist where the Talon Tyrant ripped Tracer’s chronal accelerator from her chest, crushing it with minimal effort. Winston has been scanning the entire world for radiation patterns similar to that of Tracer’s chronal disassociation looking for a different, safer, and more effective way to help Tracer stay in the present that wouldn’t be destroyed. He believed if he could replicate chronal disassociation in a controlled environment, maybe he could cure it! Sadly, since Overwatch laboratories with the technology he needs are locked down under government control or being watched by Talon, he had no choice but to look elsewhere to find the resources he needed. This search brought him to a strange place in New Mexico. Athena had picked up radiation signals from somewhere in a place called The Badlands. Based on his research about the geography, a majority of the land had been abandoned in the early 1980’s and never bothered to develop much since. However, a small town in the area called Teufort stayed up and running for a while but has very low travel scores on most websites. The latest census counted 154 residents and decreasing…</p><p>When Winston arrived at the location via the airship he was surprised to find what looked like some sort of abandoned research center encased in a chasm in New Mexico’s blazing sunset sand. A gigantic mechanical arm held a similarly large circular device suspended over a platform standing freely in the middle of the space. He couldn’t see the ground below the platform when he shined the airship spotlights down. As the light disappeared into the void below Winston wondered if a pit could really be bottomless. Winston landed the ship near the edge of the chasm and carefully climbed down the wall to a catwalk he spotted. He set up his equipment for more accurate radiation readings and started to explore the facility. He found many interesting things along the way including a dusty tophat, a glass jar full of a substance that seems to be fermenting, and a pin-up calendar with a woman’s photo on the page titled July 1972. His most amazing find was a computer terminal room with equipment dating back to the late 1960’s, early 1970’s. This facility was operational over 100 years ago with practically primitive (heh heh) technology that was just abandoned. This type of technology brought the first humans to his Home, the Moon, then it was left to the dust? Curious... Most of the equipment was still in fair shape. Winston decided it was rude to, “Stare a gift horse in the mouth,” as Dr. Winston always said, and started his mission of booting the facility back up. It took a lot of weeks, patience, and creative thinking to get everything running. He had to find a way to transfer data to a floppy disk without completely frying the facility circuits with the amount of data he needed to transfer, but luckily this facility seemed to have some smart people on hand at the time. Winston had found some notes about different devices around all signed by one handy individual which got him over a few bumps for sure. He kinda wishes he could thank this Engineer.</p><p>---</p><p>Since the Overwatch Recall, Winston has been working on this project on and off for over a year. Finally, he thinks he has made enough progress to bring Tracer out to this sweltering wasteland to show her what he has managed to do. </p><p>A pane of glass separates “The Nucleus” from his mess of computer wires and projections full of data flowing through at a fast pace. The storage room behind them had become his temporary apartment already fit with some storage cubbies and a makeshift bed as well as the nice garage door that kept the elements out while he napped. He couldn’t really call it a full nights sleep when he was constantly awake and testing not wanting to waste precious time. </p><p>Tracer observed Winston carefully though she really didn’t have much of an idea how to read the mess of data speeding by them both at a pace that almost matched hers. She wore her signature jacket and goggles to protect her from the sun and sand but opted for pants and a t-shirt along with her running shoes for this adventure. The data reflected on the glass in front of them and she noticed the glass had some holes that look too close to bullet holes for her liking. Winston had told her this was a laboratory, but as she looked around some things just didn't make sense. The concrete walls were worn from the passage of time sure, but some of the bullet like patterns and the scorch marks made her uncomfortable to say the least, not to mention the gigantic swirling blue energy thingy suspended over a bottomless pit. </p><p>“So,” Winston began, still tapping away on his holo pad, “I’ve managed to replicate chronal disassociation in solid objects, so I believe there is a good chance I could reverse or slow down the process to become more manageable,” Winston looked up briefly and tapped the chronal accelerator on Tracer’s chest, “which means you won’t need to use this anymore!”</p><p>“Hopefully someday, love,” Tracer placed her hand on top of Winston’s giving it a little squeeze of reassurance, “but I’m not going to just throw this thing out you know, I need to see your test results first.” She smiled softly at him, not wanting to extinguish his excitement but also not wanting to hype herself up too much. Jumping into the test pilot seat got her into this mess in the first place and jumping into it again may not be the answer to getting her out.</p><p>“Right, right, safety is important, and I’ve run hundreds of tests on different types of material! The only strange result I recorded was from a test I ran on a loaf of bread which I discovered was a reaction to yeast, so as long as you’re not made of bread or eat bread before we begin everything should work out! Here, I’ll show you!” </p><p>Wiston grabbed a few items from his room and walked across a catwalk he built to reach the platform under The Nucleus. He placed a jar of peanut butter, a baseball, and an orange down before making his way back to his computer terminal. A loading bar Tracer had been eyeing turned green, catching Winston’s attention.</p><p>“Alight, all warmed up and ready to go!” He tapped a few more commands before handing Tracer something. “Here, you may want to wear this, it gets kind of bright.” Winston put on his visor and Tracer put hers over her goggles. The visor kind of looked like a rectangular piece of one way mirror with an elastic attached to the shorter sides making it meant to go around your head. It was uncomfortable but it would probably do what it was intended to and rather suffer a bit of discomfort over a lifetime of blindness. </p><p>Winston started a countdown which increased the anticipation in her gut that she promised she wouldn’t have. She liked her “superpowers” as the kiddos liked to call them, but living day to day was hard on her and the love of her life. Emily, bless her heart, has been so caring and understanding but it has been a long harsh road for them both. Anything that could lead to a cure was exciting. </p><p>“Chronal disassociation in 3, 2, 1..” Winston tapped a button and his holoscreen projection faded. She could hear the whirring of the gigantic machine in the center of the chasm grow louder and the computer terminals around the facility started to flash and beep. The Nucleus grew brighter and brighter, the whooshing of the electric blue energy cycling through the machine causing the platform holding the objects to tremor. She glanced over to Winston seeing he was transfixed on the machine before them. Even if he was looking to her he wouldn’t have been able to see her face full of concern behind her protective visor. The reflection of the machine off Winston’s visor grew too bright to block, illuminating Winston’s body to a blinding white color. She looked back just in time to see the objects themselves flash out of existence before everything went dark.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Point</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>RED Team runs into some trouble handling the BLU team during this round. Things also explode.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mann’s Land - 1972</p><p>The match wasn’t looking good for Reliable Excavation Demolition. With only 2 minutes remaining to capture the objective and a team scattered off fighting Builders League United members 1 on 1 hope for capping the BLU control point looked bleak. BLU Engineer set a sentry on a platform in just the right spot to be a pain in every RED’s ass. RED Spy tried to sap it but it seemed BLU Pyro was checking the perimeter at just the right moment causing the Spy to be fried to a crisp. RED Sniper tried to take it out from a distance but couldn’t do enough damage before he was stabbed in the back by the BLU Spy. RED Soldier started blasting at the sentry only for the BLU Pyro to reflect his rocket back and take out the RED Demoman leading RED Soldier to get blasted by the sentry. BLU Demo left a good trap for RED Scout to run into and BLU Soldier was personally deciding whether or not the RED Engineer was allowed to build anything or live (Disclaimer, RED Engi was not allowed to do either).</p><p>“Sixty seconds left in the mission,” the Announcer spoke to the arena upon most of the RED team respawning. RED Heavy and Medic entered the resupply to join their team hearing the mumbles and groans from the disgruntled teammates.</p><p>“I AM READY TO CHARGE!” Medic exclaimed holding up his glowing medigun behind Heavy. </p><p>“We move to the sentry as one. You go across to point as distraction. Pyro is at BLU side. When Pyro starts to burn lettle babies we all go help, yes?” Heavy spoke in his broken English. He was loud in the fight but usually the quiet one when it came to battle plans, electing to shoot first and ask questions later. Today’s losing battle was just enough for Heavy to decide maybe they need a plan. </p><p>“For such’a big man you use tiny words ya’know?” Scout scoffed, kicking at the bench in resupply. </p><p>“They’re gonna take out the sentry and we’ve gotta keep BLU busy while they do that. Were those tiny words not tiny enough for ya, boy?” The engineer dropped his sentry tools and grabbed something small from his cubby, a mini sentry. “I understand, y’all ready?”</p><p>“NO TIME FOR WORDS OF ANY SIZE! LETS GO GO GO!” Soldier ran past Scout accidentally shoving into Demoman and Scout on his way out. Heavy and Medic started towards the ascending stairway as Soldier covered for them. Engineer cut right with Demo, catching up with Pyro hiding on the other side. Scout, Sniper and Spy were left by their respawn, Sniper taking the back and Spy going invisible, leaving Scout alone to face the glowing point. </p><p>“Thirty seconds!” the Announcer squealed into the loud speaker. Almost immediately after her reminder, the Heavy bellowed “RUN YOU COWARDS” so loud God could probably hear him. Looking up to the BLU Sentry the BLU Engineer and Pyro were suddenly riddled with bullet holes just as the sentry was moments later. </p><p>“HUHAAAAUGH” RED Pyro called back, taking out the BLU Scout and Demoman on the BLU side. RED Engineer and Demo set traps at their respawn and didn’t see the BLU Soldier fast approaching. Thankfully RED Sniper did and effectively turned the soldier's helmet into a bowl for his brains. </p><p>BLU Heavy and Medic were making their way to RED Respawn with an Uber in tow when their trip was cut short by steel slipping into their spines. Scout started making his way to the cap when a little blue light blinded him for a moment. “Aw, crap,” he thought when suddenly an explosion and a screaming flash of RED soared through the sky and crunched the Kiwi under his combat boots. Scout was alone on the point with 10 seconds remaining when the glowing holographic capture meter was stopped abruptly. Scout barely had time to react when he heard familiar dumb baguette mockingly say, “Suprise,” before attempting to slash him open. Scout swung his Scattergun around to shoot the bastard but his arm was slashed and his gun was knocked from his hand. </p><p>“THE POINT IS BEING CONTESTED!" The Announcer was ecstatic. </p><p>Scout grabbed at BLU Spy’s arm that was holding this blade and used his other to try and punch him in the gut. This resulted in both of them locked in the grasp of the other. Scout started to kick and tried a headbutt, but BLU Spy saw Scout reel back for the blow and kneed him in the gut before he had the chance. Their dance on the point was not over as quick as Scout hoped and it was clear who was winning though Scout would never admit he was losing. </p><p>"OVERTIME! AUGHHAHAHA!” her shrill laughter hurt his ears.</p>

<p>“LETTLE SCOUT NEEDS HELP!” Heavy shouted, bringing the RED Team’s focus back to the point. </p><p>In a glorious demonstration of teamwork of the likes Mann has never seen before, every member of the RED team rushed the point to cap for Overtime. Pyro, Engineer, and Demo came from the BLU side catwalk, Spy, Heavy, Medic, and even the Sniper came from the RED catwalk, and finally the Soldier came dropping in from who knows where. The BLU spy was overwhelmed, beaten to a bloody pulp to where his deadringer couldn't even save him. His body tumbled off the side of the control point to the abyss below. </p><p>With the last BLU on his way to respawn the capture meter began filling up RED again. The team let out various whoops and applause having turned around a hopeless round when the control point wobbled.</p><p>“WOAH woah, usually there ain’t this many of us on here so uh, hey fatass, get off the poi-” the control point creaked again and the platform tipped violently toward the abyss. The catwalks that stretch from the RED and BLU respawns were smashed by the point tipping, causing a loud siren to go off and the platforms to start to retract back to their respective sides. A loud whooshing sound and a high pitch ringing coming from the device hanging above the control point added to the chaos. </p><p>“HEY DON’T LEAVE WITHOUT ME!” Scout started toward the retracting platforms ready to jump when a giant sparking flash from the device above blinded him for a moment. There was another deep metallic creek and a reverberating snap then the Scout was suddenly roughly yanked backwards towards the point. He opened his eyes in time to see one of the giant metal beams that supported the device above their heads fall down and smash into the RED catwalk destroying it completely then smash into the lower maintenance catwalk that circled the bottom of the control point, blocking the only other exits most of the team was able to take. The point was vibrating from the energy moving through the machine above them.</p><p>“VHAT IS HAPPENING?” Medic screamed grabbing onto Heavy to try to keep his balance. </p><p>Demo and Soldier swayed with the motion of the point and Sniper was up against a raised wall of the point holding on for his life. Pyro jumped a few times like they WANTED the point to fall. Spy leaned on the wall next to Sniper and offered him a cigarette before sliding down the wall to sit next to him and grasped it as well. Engineer still had one hand twisted into the back of the Scout’s shirt, too afraid to move at all. </p><p>“Power overload?” Engi suggested, his voice much calmer than his posture. He looked to his teammates then to the machine.  “Just don’t move, the job ain’t over yet,” he said pointing to the hologram. They were at ninety percent capture.  </p><p>Just then as they all were looking to the hologram, something flashed into and out of existence. Three things actually. Then they were gone.</p><p>“Did-did anyone else see that?” Scout swore he saw a baseball, but with the entire room growing brighter from this power overload and ears bleeding from the alarms, sirens, and the ominous howl of the machine overhead, it could’ve been his mind playing tricks. </p><p>“I know ai’em drunk but ai swore tha’ was a jar ah peanut butter right there, yeah?” Demo blinked his eye. </p><p>95% capture…</p><p> </p><p>The Announcer called out to the arena,</p><p> </p><p>“Mission ends in 5…”</p><p>96%</p><p>“4...”</p><p>97%</p><p>“3...”</p><p>98%</p><p>“2...”</p><p>99%</p><p>In another brief blinding flash, a figure stood before them in the center of the control point. It looked like a tall yet petite figure with spiked hair. It saw the RED team and it screamed.</p><p>“1…”</p><p>The RED Team screamed.</p><p>Then everything went white.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. A Fateful Meeting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lena lets Winston run his test and something goes wrong...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>These chapters are a bit shorter than I like to write but I really want to just establish a bit of background before getting into the interaction so yeah, love ya thanks</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When the energy flickered back on the 3 objects had reappeared on the platform but they seemed to be flickering in and out of existence like she had all those years ago. </p><p>“Haha! Moving on to phase two!” Winston flicked his holopad back to life while the machine started to build energy again, this time building much faster. “Sending negatively charged ions of a similar wave pattern to the dissociation should bring them back to a solid state!” he tapped a few more keys as the green light one again lit up. “Chronal re-association in 3… 2… 1…” again, the machine lit to a blinding state but didn’t go dark this time. Observing the objects, they seemed solid. Winston went to retrieve them and handed them to Tracer. “How’s that for a test?” he smiled. </p><p>She held the jar, the ball, and the orange. They all seemed solid but for a brief moment she thought the baseball looked like it flickered. She lifted her visor and looked back to Winston allowing him to see her concern this time. </p><p>“Ah well, I did say it could at least slow down the process. The ball should be fixed in time…”</p><p>It flickered in her hand.</p><p>“Hmm…Maybe I can try a different size dose of ions? I did a mass ratio for this particular experiment but maybe I could add more…” Winston stroked his chin and furrowed his brow upset his test still had flaws.</p><p>“It’s alright Winston, you tried your best and I appreciate that more than you know,” she put the objects down among the mess of wires and gave her friend a hug, “maybe someday we’ll find a solution to this.”</p><p>“Uh, Lena,” Winston started, “Well, I wanted to bring you out here to test. I’d like to know if you’d be ok with me testing my theory on slowing chronal disassociation,” he scratched his head, “It’s ok if you’re not! I won’t pressure you!” he raised his hands in surrender. </p><p>Tracer thought for a moment before asking, “What theory?”</p><p>Winston’s worried expression softened a little as he explained. “Well, since I’ve been testing on non-living things, my theory is that living things will react more positively to this treatment, like radiation therapy if you will. Small doses over time may be a healthy way for your body to recover.” Winston twiddled his thumbs idly.</p><p>“A small dose?” she asks, pensive.</p><p>“Very small. If your body reacts poorly we will just continue to use your accelerator.” Winston gestures to her chest area where the device is kept. “The trouble is, you really shouldn’t wear it while receiving the treatment. I don’t know what kind of fluctuation that could cause.”</p><p>Lena looks to Winston then to the machine then to her chest. She really does trust Winston but this is such a huge risk if this doesn’t work. On the other hand if it does work…</p><p>She purses her lips and nods, “Alright.”</p><p>Winston’s eyes open wide, “R-really? Oh, okay!” Winston pushes up his glasses and cracks his knuckles before turning back to his computer. “Let me readjust the settings for you. Lena, if you don’t mind making your way to the platform?”</p><p>Tracer nods and strides around their viewing station towards the machine putting on a facade of confidence for her friend. She crosses the bridge Winston built and stops before stepping onto the platform to turn back to Winston seated behind the glass. He clicks a few more buttons before giving a thumbs up to her and asking, “Can you please remove the accelerator and leave it on the bridge? If you need me to stop, just shout and I’ll shut everything down and you can grab it.” She does so, removing her coat and unstrapping the device from her body and placing it down on the bridge. The further she walks from the device onto the platform the more weary she feels. It’s enough for her to stay together but it’s not comfortable.</p><p>“Are you ready?” Winston shouts to her. She manages a thumbs up and a “Yepper” before Winston pulls the visor down over his face again. Being under the machine she doesn’t see the blinding light the same but needs to squint a bit, however the noise is much louder underneath the machine on the platform. Winston shouts the countdown so she can hear him.</p><p>“CHRONAL RE-ASSOCIATION IN 3…”</p><p> </p><p>The butterflies in her stomach won’t stop fluttering…</p><p>“2…”</p><p>And her chronal accelerator on the bridge won’t stop flickering uncontrollably… </p><p>“1…” </p><p>Oh no…</p><p>“WINSTON WAI-” Tracer screams but it’s too late, the world around her goes white and she squeezes her eyes shut.</p><p>When the world is no longer blinding her she opens her eyes. She’s still on the platform in the same place, but the laboratory looks much newer. Everything looks recognizable enough to her, everything besides the nine men surrounding her on the platform holding various weapons staring right at her. That was enough of a shock to get her to scream. They screamed back, and once again the world went white.</p>
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